MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) is an ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video used for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). MPEG-2 provides broadcast quality video with resolutions up to 1920×1080 and supports a variety of audio/video formats, including legacy TV, HDTV and five channel surround sound. MPEG-4 provides for multimedia representation and distribution and offers a variety of compression options including low-bandwidth formats for transmitting content/services to wireless devices.
ISO 13818 generally discusses MPEG-2 transport for transmission and storage of audio, video, and program and system information protocol data. The transport stream has a container format encapsulating packetized elementary streams and is used for terrestrial and satellite broadcast. A packet is the basic unit of data in a transport stream and includes a 13-bit Packet Identifier (PID) which identifies each table or elementary stream in a transport stream.
HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) provides another specification providing a transport approach for delivering live streamed MPEG content via HTTP. HLS is directed for use on Internet Protocol (IP) networks and with content streamed from web servers. This enables Multiple System Operators (MSOs) to offer live video to IP clients directly from their web servers over IP networks. In this manner, MSOs can provide customers with live MPEG-4 streaming of content which can be viewed on wireless devices, such as tablets, smart phones, lap-top computers and the like.
The streamed content can correspond to TV programs currently being broadcast on TV channels (i.e., live TV); however, unlike traditional broadcast of TV programs, the content is streamed from web servers on IP networks. Thus, a consumer can watch live streaming TV channels, for instance, via their home or other WiFi connection, on their wireless IP devices. This effectively turns wireless tablets, smart phones, and like portable devices into another TV screen that can be used to view live TV programs (i.e., programs currently being broadcast).
A drawback with the use of the HLS approach for live streaming of TV programs is that it can introduce scaling/bandwidth issues on the web server and IP network side. Thus, the direct IP transport approach for streaming live TV content increases the burden on the IP delivery network, and the burden multiplies as the number of users scales. It also increases server hardware requirements, which expands as the number of simultaneous users scales. Still further, there are concerns with respect to hacking, copy protection, and unintended access to content delivered over an IP network.